A First Nation on British Columbia’s coast says its offer to accept a grizzly bear that’s living on Texada Island still stands, though the provincial government remains cool to relocating it.
The four-year-old male grizzly has been on the island for close to a month, after swimming across from the mainland.
Residents have rallied to privately fund a relocation effort, and the Mamalilikulla First Nation says it would be happy to welcome the bear to its territory in Knight Inlet, west of the Broughton Archipelago.
“It’s looking for a place in the world, and you know, it has every right to have a place in the world,” Mamalilikulla Elected Chief John Powell told Global News.
“I don’t think Texada is the right place.”
Powell said the province’s approach has been to wait for the bear to swim away again, either in search of a mate or somewhere to hibernate.
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But he argued that given the small size of the island, it is more likely to end up in trouble.
“The reality is that the bear has all kinds of opportunities to interact, possibly negatively, with human beings who are not used to grizzly bears,” he said.
“Chances are, if it’s left to its own device, it’s going to be a bear, it’s going to follow its nose, it’s going to put its nose in the wrong place, and someone’s going to shoot it. And that would be a huge pity.”
Powell said Knight Inlet is sparsely populated, and is already grizzly bear territory — adding that there is a similarly-aged female in the area that could potentially be a good mate.
The provincial government says the case isn’t so simple.
“The chances of successfully relocating a bear once is less than 30 per cent, and that percentage goes down each and every time,” Water Land and Resource Stewardship Minister Randene Neill said.
The bear has already been relocated twice.
According to the BC Conservation Officer Service, it was tagged and moved from Gibsons in September, and then moved again from Sechelt.
On both occasions, the bear returned to urban areas within weeks, the service said.
Since then, there have been reports the bear has shown aggressive behaviour with humans, livestock and animals.
“We just want to be very clear, there is no kill order for this grizzly,” Neill said.
“We are hoping this grizzly will stay out into the back country, not interact with any humans at all or animals, and live the life that he is supposed to live.”
Powell said it’s clear the residents of Texada want a positive outcome for the bear, but that they don’t want to be sharing their backyards with him either.
He said given that Islanders are willing to foot the bill for his relocation, giving him a new chance at life in a remote location should be straightforward.
“I think there’s a solution here, and I’m not so sure what the resistance to accept that solution is, except possibly setting a precedent,” he said.
“But I just don’t think it has much chance of surviving if it stays on Texada.”
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